When I think about the idea: "aikido is love" - I think about what does "aikido" mean to me, and what does "love" mean to me, and I think about how to reconcile the two things. I think the mental materialism approach of "I already know what aikido is, and I already know what love is, and they are not the same thing" is not quite the point. It is directly against the message of "shoshin".

This kind of topic reminds me of Plato's "forms" - like what is "justice"? what is friendship? what is virtue? can virtue be taught?

It might not be such a horrible thing to ask yourself now and again, things like: what is "ki"? what is "aiki"? what is "do"? what is "ikkyo"? what is "iriminage"? what is the "wa"? etc.

Giving credit where credit is due, I would say that Mike Sigman has done a really good job with what is "ki"? I would love to read about some of the other ideas - I just mentioned - thought about to that degree or more.